The Other Digital Divide

There's been plenty written about the digital divide. Unfortunately, our nation's policy on leveling the playing field between urban and rural for the access to broadband services is somewhere between nonexistent and haphazard. While I'm rarely for bigger government, there a few times when they need to regulate things so users can have more access than dialup at a reasonable price.

That out of the way, I wanted to mention the other digital divide that I see coming. The digital TV transition is creating another divide of those that can obtain a TV signal with an antenna, and those that can't. I saw this on the CBS news today. They manage to take a complicated issue, and simplify it to the point of uselessness. It's why I can't stand folks like Suzie Orman who would approach the DTV transition as just get your coupon for a new converter box, hook it up to the TV, and you'll have digital goodness with an improved picture and sound. Yeah right, if only this "one size fits none" approach ever got anything done.

I'm here as the living proof that it's not that simple. Even with a new TV, and a digital recorder, both with ATSC digital tuners from different manufacturers, hooked up to a set top antenna, I have yet to see digital television (unless you count my DVD player, but that's another story). And yes, I do have good analog TV reception currently. They really need to explain to folks that most of the digital signal is in the UHF spectrum (at least for now), and half of it is likely to stay there. This depends on the specific market you're in, of course. However, for those that live too far from the metropolitan area, without a really great antenna, their OTA signal will likely go dark on 2/19/09. None of the advertising ever wants to mention that, and no amount of converter boxes are going to change that.

While I don't see folks moving out of suburbia and back to the cities just to get free digital television, just realize that this is a problem that no one is discussing, but they just might be a year from now. Too bad the nation's consumers cannot really afford to upgrade everything right now, as this could get expensive during these lousy economic times.

Jonas